m390 CF millie owners post your observations regarding Fit & Finish

[Ankerson]

Yup. Its the new fad like backwards baseball caps

Never was a fad follower personally.

[JNewell]

I want dino-jimping back. :mad:

[black]

I just have to take a long break from this knife hobby i guess. It's not making fun anymore, just costing a lot of money... good bye

[mongatu]

I hadn't really noticed but after taking a closer look at the thumb jimping on the CF M390 Milie I'm currently using, I see it is also arguably oriented kind of "backwards." Honestly, I think it's better that way as it is less abrasive on my thumb than it would be if it was oriented the other way and it still affords adequate "anti skid" properties. For me it's mostly just a tactile cue as to where my thumb is on the blade.

Edit: I see my regular Millie is the same, i.e., the jimping is oriented so it's less abrasive to the thumb going towards the blade. However, the jimping on my Para 2's is oriented so it's a bit more abrasive to the thumb.

[Popsickle]

this is a reason why i dont visit this forum very much anymore. too much negativity. kudos to all you positive people.

[Fred S]

Looked at mine before boxing up for warranty shipping, my thumb jimping is close to other militaries, but does have a bit more "backwards" direction

[dsmegst]

Mine looks pretty much like the OP's photo shows but on the other hand, I opened the knife, held it, admired the CF, admired the blade steel marking, and was impressed as I have been with every Military I've ever held. The jimping feels good and provides good traction. It does what it's supposed to and looks perfectly fine w/o magnification.

Everyone's entitled to their opinions and I guess I'm just not that picky. Oh, and my grind's uneven. Let's start a thread about that.

[Scottie3000]

I did notice one of mine had a very minor jimping imperfection in the finger choil. Other than that, the Parta that. Punt to me, lockup, centering, countersunk screws... All perfect. I'm satisfied with mine and think they were a steal considering materials, overall quality, and price.

[Wisehybred]

I did notice one of mine had a very minor jimping imperfection in the finger choil. Other than that, the Parta that. Punt to me, lockup, centering, countersunk screws... All perfect. I'm satisfied with mine and think they were a steal considering materials, overall quality, and price.

Please re read what you just wrote, makes no scence lol!!

[razorsharp]

backwards jimping looks like it would be a lot nicer on the thumbs

[chuck_roxas45]

Jimping is overrated. It's how a knife fits my hand that I trust more than jimping.

[phillipsted]

Jimping is overrated. It's how a knife fits my hand that I trust more than jimping.

I concur, Chuck. No amount of jimping can fix bad ergonomics. And the Millie has some of the best ergonomics of any knife I've ever held.

TedP

[bitbyte]

Jimping is overrated. It's how a knife fits my hand that I trust more than jimping.

Agreed with the caveat that anything worth doing, is worth doing right. If it's there, do it right, otherwise omit it.

[Ken44]

My two look great. I haven't(and won't) broke out the loupe to look at the jimping, but to the naked eye my jimping looks fine.

[Ankerson]

My two look great. I haven't(and won't) broke out the loupe to look at the jimping, but to the naked eye my jimping looks fine.

Oh man you mean you aren't going to put it under a microscope and try to find things to complain about then post what you find on an open public forum instead of just calling or emailing Spyderco?

[JNewell]

My two look great. I haven't(and won't) broke out the loupe to look at the jimping, but to the naked eye my jimping looks fine.

Yes. There was a big to-do elsewhere about 0.0005" air gaps between the blade and the thumb lugs on a few examples of a company's folders. :rolleyes:

[Whieee]

After reading much of the comments (and some of the personal attacks) in this thread, I took the liberty of inspecting the f&f on a few Spydies I had lying around. I tested the following knives:
- Delica 4 FFG Blue (VG10)
- Stretch 2 BRG (ZDP-189)
- Military Orange G10 (S30V)
- UKPK G10 (S30V)
- UKPK Ti (S30V)
- UKPK FRN (GIN-1)
- Military CF (S90V)
- Paramilitary 2 Black G10 (S30V)

Here's what I found:
1. Not a single knife had perfect jimping, yet all of them had functional jimping. None of them had 'backwards' jimping.
2. f&f on my CF/S90V Military was not as good as my Orange Millie
3. It looks like the tolerances on laser-engraving on the blades has been lowered recently. Engraving on my G10 UKPK, Orange Millie and CF/S90V Millie are perfect; engraving on my Para2 and Ti UKPK are considerably 'fuzzy'. Obviously this doesn't impact performance, but it is clearly noticeable.
4. Lockup is perfect in all cases.
5. The only knives that show any signs of blade play have been abused by yours truly. The ones that have been used, but not abused, are solid.
6. Blade centering is mostly ok. I have 2 knives that are noticeably 'off', but most are decently centered, and never more than 2mm 'off'

Considering what you pay for Spyderco knives, it's not realistic to expect perfection. Even if you shell out 400-500 USD for a Chris Reeve or a Strider, you're not going to get perfection, although you can expect tighter tolerances and better QC. However, looking at my current collection, if you pay well over 200 USD for a knife, I don't see a reason not to expect a nicely finished knife, with proper (but not perfect) jimping that works, tight lockup, no blade play, decent bevels, centered blade.

Ergo: if f&f-issues cause functional defects (jimping not working), return it.

[Roan]

So the only issue with mine is the bevel is messed up around the tip. Looks like the tip got hit twice during the grind and pushed the bevel off center.

You know what though... I don't care. I'm not sending it back. If it becomes a real issue, I'll man up and reprofile it myself. Might even learn something in the process.

Anyone can find something wrong with almost everything if they look close enough or think about it enough. ****, my $30,000 car has more than 2 dozen things I don't like about it, or are possible flaws. Uneven grind or funky jimping on a $200 work tool? Don't sweat the small stuff guys.

EDIT: To clarify 'work tool'.
I think of my knives as work tools, because they all get used.
I know that some people prefer to keep their knives as safe queens and display pieces. In this scenario, where a knife isn't even going to be used, what is the point in having "functional jimping"?

[gbelleh]

I'm totally happy with my CF M390 Millies, except that the one I'm currently using has a slightly off-center blade (leaning toward the non-lock scale). This doesn't bother me much, it's not scraping the liners. But, I can't seem to get it centered using the Military blade centering techniques. When the pivot it tightened all the way, it's perfectly centered. Backspacer screws adjusted, everything's good... but as soon as the pivot is backed out at all, the blade goes back to the exact same off-center spot. As I said, I'm not really worried about it, but now that I can't seem to fix it, it's bothering me.

[HeiHeit]

Hey guys,

I got my cf m390 millie Friday and it is AWESOME!! My favorite part is the pattern on the CF; you can actually see the pattern even though it is peel ply (unlike Seki Cf where you have to tilt it to show the pattern). I also have the jimping issue, not sure what happened there, but it isn't a big deal. What is a big deal is the large scratch going across the blade. I emailed KW Friday, but I'll call them first thing tomorrow morning. I sure hope they have a replacement.